Of the three Chip Ganassi drivers in the Izod IndyCar Series, Franchitti is the one on the outside looking in.

"Scott (Dixon) has won three races, Charlie (Kimball) has won one," Franchitti said. "I have not won one yet. I would like to sort that out."

Franchitti took a step toward remedying that situation Saturday, impressively winning the pole for Sunday's GoPro Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway. Franchitti turned a fast lap of 1 minute 17.5271 seconds over the 12-turn, 2.385-mile road course, even though he made a mistake at Turn 6. Dixon, Franchitti's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammte, was second but almost two-tenths of a second behind.

The pole is Franchitti's fourth of the season and third at Sonoma (2007 and 2009, when he won).

After a rough start in 2013, Franchitti has started looking more like the four-time IndyCar champion that he is, making regular podium appearances.

Once the calendar turned to July and August, Franchitti has finished third at Pocono Raceway, third and fourth at the doubleheader in Toronto and third at Mid-Ohio. That time frame corresponds to the arrival of an improved Honda engine that seemingly has invigorated the Ganassi operation. Dixon was the winner at Pocono and swept Toronto. Kimball, who drives for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing, won at Mid-Ohio.

"Obviously we have seen recently the team has been on a good run, in a sweet spot with the car," Franchitti said. "Honda has made an improvement, too.

"Think you've got to give credit to the team for really working hard and figuring out our weaknesses. It's been a lot of hard work for all concerned to figure out some of the problems, and Honda has definitely made a step, too, which really helped us."

Franchitti had been fast all day Saturday. He caught people's attention with the fastest time in the morning practice session, then went to top of the charts in the first round of qualifying. In the 12-driver second round, he gambled. Instead of using a new set of the softer, grippier red tires, Franchitti used old reds from Round 1. Still, he managed to run third in that session and advanced to the Firestone Fast Six, where the six fastest drivers go for the pole.

Back on a new set of reds, Franchitti put up his pole time on his first hot lap. No one else was able to challenge as time ran out in the 10-minute session.

Team Penske's Will Power, the only two-time winner at Sonoma, qualified third. His teammate and championship leader Helio Castroneves was fifth. Defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport, was fifth and Kimball was sixth.

"It's good to have all three of the Ganassi cars in the Top 6," Franchitti said. "It's is pretty cool."

* Sausalito driver JR Hildebrand is back in IndyCar, driving for Bryan Herta Autosport's Barracuda Racing. This is Hildebrand's first race since he crashed early in the Indianapolis 500. Shortly after that, he and his Panther Racing team mutually agreed to part ways.

Returning to the series at Sonoma Raceway -- Hildebrand's home track -- after a long layoff isn't necessarily an advantage.

"This is a tough place to get right on IndyCar weekend," Hildebrand said before qualifying 18th. "It's a unique layout that doesn't get used much the rest of the year. This track is always a tough one, no matter what the circumstances are. But I'm really enjoying working with the Barracuda guys. It's a breath of fresh air."

Hildebrand will be driving the Barracuda car here and in the season finale at Fontana. Luca Filippi will drive at Baltimore and the doubleheader in Houston.

Coincidentally, Hildebrand's pit this weekend is directly behind the Panther pit. Precautions have been taken to make sure Hildebrand doesn't accidentally -- by habit -- stop in the wrong pit.

The streak started with the CART race in Portland in June of 2001. (Records for the CART/Champ Car Series and IndyCar have been combined.) Kanaan had missed the previous race at Detroit's Belle Isle when he crashed into a wall in qualifying, suffering a mild concussion.